Overview
F-Tek partnered with a leading UK exam board to drive their cloud transformation initiative. The project aimed to modernise their IT landscape, ensuring seamless system integration, enhanced scalability, and improved business agility. The transformation leveraged Microsoft Azure’s integration stack to connect critical business systems and unlock new operational efficiencies.
Challenges
The exam board faced multiple challenges in their existing infrastructure:
Legacy Systems & Siloed Data: Disconnected applications made data management and reporting inefficient.
Complex System Integration: Required seamless interaction between Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.
Scalability & Performance: Existing on-premises solutions lacked the ability to scale effectively with business growth.
Custom Business Requirements: Needed bespoke API development to support newly defined business processes.
Solution
F-Tek designed and implemented a comprehensive cloud transformation strategy using the Azure integration stack:
System Integration with Azure
We implemented robust integration patterns leveraging:
Azure Data Factory (ADF): Managed complex data movement and transformations between systems.
Azure Functions & Logic Apps: Enabled event-driven and automated workflows.
Azure API Management (APIM): Provided a secure and scalable gateway for exposing APIs to external and internal consumers.
Azure Service Bus: Ensured reliable messaging and event-driven communication between decoupled applications.
Custom API Development
To support evolving business needs, we developed custom APIs that facilitated:
Enhanced Data Synchronisation: Integrated APIs to enable real-time data exchange between applications.
New Business Process Enablement: Developed APIs that supported functionalities previously constrained by legacy systems.
Secure Access & Compliance: Implemented authentication and authorisation via Azure AD and OAuth2 to ensure secure API consumption.
Key System Integrations
Our solution integrated various critical business systems, including:
Dynamics 365 CRM: Centralised storage and management of Centres, Teachers, and Associates data.
Workday: Automated finance and billing processes through seamless integration.
Azure AD: Enabled efficient Joiners, Movers, and Leavers (JML) processes for HR.
Line-of-Business (LOB) Systems:
Course & Event Management: Streamlined course scheduling and registrations.
Student Results & Historic Database: Ensured accurate record-keeping and easy access to student performance data.
Public-Facing Website: Delivered personalised and dynamic content to users based on integrated data insights.
Results & Benefits
The successful execution of the cloud transformation resulted in:
Improved Operational Efficiency: Automated workflows and integrations reduced manual interventions.
Enhanced Data Accuracy & Accessibility: Centralised data management enabled better decision-making.
Scalability & Performance Gains: Cloud-native solutions provided flexibility to scale with demand.
Future-Proofed IT Landscape: Modernised architecture capable of supporting evolving business needs.
Conclusion
Through our strategic approach and expertise in Azure integration, F-Tek empowered the UK exam board with a resilient, scalable, and agile cloud ecosystem. The transformation not only streamlined operations but also unlocked new business capabilities, positioning them for future growth and innovation.
We continue to work closely with the client to help support, identify and unlock further efficiencies with their processes and monitor cloud ustilisation for cost optimisations (see Cloud Cost Optimisation Service).